A Timely Solution
by acirclehasnoend
Summary: Molly Weasley just wanted the first day of her internship at the Ministry to go smoothly...but the Department of Mysteries had other ideas. Rated M to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So...here we go! This is going to be a multi-chapter fic based around Tom and NewGen Molly who I mainly chose because so little is known about her character and so it gives me the opportunity to basically use her as a sort of OC, I suppose...but with all the perks of being a member of the Potter/Weasley family! It should be fun anyway! I could get the first few chapters uploaded in the next coming week (but I'm not guaranteeing anything) otherwise I'll aim to update this story every Sunday. Anyway, let me know what you think/where you think this story is going. Constructive criticism is always welcomed but general bashing isn't; I'm still new to all of this so please bare with me :) Enjoy!

* * *

A Timely Solution

By ACircleHasNoEnd

Molly Weasley rushed to keep up with her father as they walked through the Ministry's bustling atrium, her feet almost tripping over themselves in her new, sensible kitten heels. Molly blamed her clumsiness on the fact that her shoes didn't fit her properly but, in actual fact, it was most likely her nerves. You see, this was Molly's first day as a summer intern at the Ministry of Magic- something she was extremely nervous about not only because she wanted to do well but because her father, Percy Weasley, _expected_ her to do well.

"You need to sign in over there," her dad pointed to a small booth opposite the Ministry Munchies cafe, "I have to go up to my office now- I have a meeting in five minutes." He scowled at his pocket watch, his tortoise-shell glasses falling down his nose slightly.

"Wh-what?" A lock of brown hair fell in front of her eyes. "You're not coming with me?"

The scowl was directed at his daughter now, "of course not. Go on then, off you go. Have a good day." And just like that he left her standing in the middle of the swathes of moving bodies, all alone.

* * *

Molly stood at the back of the group of interns that had gathered in the cafe. At the front of the group of about fifteen interns stood a rather short woman in peacock blue, she was currently trying to talk above the noise of the cafeteria.

"Hello? Can everyone hear me okay? CAN YOU HEAR ME AT THE BACK?"

No response.

She grumbled to herself before retrieving her wand from her sleeve and casting a silencing charm around them. "Right, that's better," she beamed. "Hello, everyone, my name is Rosamund and I'll be giving you a tour of the Ministry today so don't worry- you won't technically be doing any work today!" Molly breathed a sigh of relief. "Right, so, let's get started! We're going to start here in the Atrium which was built in…"

Molly zoned out; she had practically grown up in this building. She remembered coming here for the first time when she was about nine and being completely overwhelmed by the size of the place, finding the lifts terrifying and trying to swat down the interdepartmental memos with her sister, Lucy. She recalled that they used to race between their dad's office, Uncle Harry's office, Uncle Ron's office and Aunt Hermione's office and back again, much to her family's displeasure. She had spent many a summer holidays annoying her dad as she asked question after question about the Ministry but it was her dream to work here and she hoped that this internship would lead her to a job offer.

"Now, seeing as we're on Level 8 at the moment, I think it would be a good idea to go down to Level 10 and then work our way back up, yes?" She grinned manically at everyone, waiting for some kind of enthusiasm from them. There was a general grumble of acknowledgement and she clapped her hands together. "Excellent! Let's go, shall we?"

* * *

They started in the courtrooms, observing the trial of a wizard that had used magic in the presence of a muggle as Rosamund explained to them in hush whispers how the Wizengamot was structured. Other interns around her took notes and Molly suddenly wondered whether she should be too- though she didn't really think it was important to know that the plum and silver robes that the court wears didn't come into effect until 1692.

"Don't worry, I don't think there'll be a test." Molly jumped, turning around to see a freckled boy with strawberry blonde hair grinning at her.

She smirked, "Thank Merlin, I thought I was looking bad then but it seems like you're not making notes either…"

He shrugged, "they're only doing this because they want to make the Ministry look good."

Just as he said that, the wizard on trial started yelling profanities at the Chief Warlock. They promptly left.

* * *

"Now, the next level is a rather spooky one, if you ask me," Rosamund giggled, causing the freckled boy to peer at Molly with a smirk. The lift doors opened, "this is the Department of Mysteries."

Now, this was a department that certainly did intrigue Molly- simply because people knew so little about it and it was so difficult to actually get access.

"There are many wards on this floor to prevent anyone who doesn't have access from actually getting into the department but don't worry," she grinned again as she saw the looks of worry dart between the interns, "just for this tour, we've all been allowed in just so you can get a general feel for it."

The walls and floors weren't tiled with the same green tiles as the other departments were but instead were tiled with black ones, there were no windows or doors except for one at the end of the corridor which they were now walking towards. The room would have been completely dark if it weren't for the ominous blue-white light provided by the torches that lined the walls and Molly found herself lighting her wand so as to see better, just as many others did.

"Now, I can't actually _show_ you anything that goes on beyond these walls," there was a general groan from the group, " _but_ I will explain it to you as best as I can because, of course, this is still a department that is shrouded in secrecy." They reached the large black carved door at the end of the corridor and Rosamund twisted the handle.

On the other side of the door was a circular room with a marble floor that Molly almost mistook for still water. The floor perfectly reflected the floating candles above her head which illuminated the room to reveal the twelve doors around the walls of the foyer.

"Whilst the work of this department is top secret, it is known that this department deals with the many unexplained curiosities of the wizarding world, some of which have been attempted to be uncovered throughout our history. The last notable time was in 1996 when Lord Voldemort broke into the Ministry and a battle ensued between Harry Potter and several Death Eaters…"

Molly scowled at this summarisation, knowing it was completely underwhelming compared to what _really_ happened to her family. She bit her tongue though, knowing that her version also may not be the version that the ministry wanted the public to know about- the version that involved the Hall of Prophecy and the Death Chamber.

"You may have noticed that these doors have no handles and so only grant access to those who are verified- so a simple _Alohomora_ won't do it!" She waggled her finger at them. "However, if one room is managed to be opened-"

 _Pop!_ There was a commotion from behind one of the doors, a series of pops and cracks. One of the doors opened to reveal a room filled with hundreds upon thousands of clocks. There was a loud boom and the clocks began to tumble to the floor. A group of witches and wizards appeared with wild looks on their faces, "quick! Run! Everybody needs to leave!" They shouted through another thunderous boom. The whole room shook, knocking people off their feet. The marble began to crack beneath them.

"What have you _done?!_ " Someone bellowed.

"I thought I'd figured it out!"

" _S_ _hit!_ "

"Quick! Run! Run!"

The freckled boy reached for Molly's hand. He began to flicker as if he were a hologram. Molly's ears were ringing.

"What the-" He began and with a _Crack!_ He had vanished.

 _Crack! Crack! Crack!_ People were screaming all around her. The flickered and disappeared mid-run.

Molly looked down. She was fading.

Rosamund looked at her frantically. She opened her mouth.

But Molly never heard the words that came out.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Wowww- I filled you all with so many promises didn't I? My goodness. I can only apologise that I'm only just uploading the second chapter- life just got in the way there for a moment! I swear the next chapter will be uploaded before, or at the latest, by Sunday- I PROMISE! But anyway, enough grovelling- here's chapter two. Hope you all enjoy x

* * *

A Timely Solution

by ACircleHasNoEnd

* * *

When Molly finally woke up she stared at the ceiling, attempting to blink back her memories. They came back to her slowly; her internship, the tour of the Ministry, the Department of Mysteries, clocks falling to the floor, the freckled boy disappearing right in front of her eyes… Molly sat up with a shock. She wasn't in the Ministry anymore- she was in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts.

"Oh, _shit_ ," Molly whispered to herself as her mind began to whirr- the Time Room had exploded, there had been a mistake and suddenly people had popped into nothingness.

It was very possible that Molly had time travelled.

She leapt out of bed and rushed to the window, inspecting the familiar countryside for any signs of change. The Whomping Willow. It wasn't there. That meant that she had travelled back in time at least 46 years. Molly held onto the window ledge as she stared at nothing. She didn't really know how one was supposed to react in a situation like this- of all the lessons that her parents had taught her over the years, none of them had ever covered how to cope when you're accidentally spat out in a different century.

"Miss?"

Molly turned around to see a Mediwitch standing there, accompanied by two teachers that made her face drain of colour. "What year is this?"

"It's 1944." Professor Dumbledore said.

* * *

She couldn't quite believe it. She was currently sitting in front of Albus Dumbledore and Armando Dippet (both of whom were supposed to be dead), 73 years in the past with absolutely no idea what to do. She was most certainly out of her depth.

"What is your name?" Professor Dumbledore asked in that same gentle voice as before.

"Molly," she hesitated to provide her surname, she couldn't be a Weasley when she was pretty sure her great-grandparents were probably at school at this time. "Molly Mason," she heard herself say as her mother's maiden name popped into her head.

"You should be in bed," the Mediwitch scolded. She retrieved a thermometer out of her pocket and placed it in Molly's mouth. "How do you feel?"

"Erm, I don't think I have a simple answer to that question at the moment, sorry." She replied honestly- Molly felt all sorts of panicked, upset, terrified, sick and confused at once.

The Meditwitch's face softened as she guided her back over to the bed, "well, my name is Madame Lombeaux, I'll be in my office if you need anything."

"How did I get here?" Molly asked.

"You fell out of the sky into my transfiguration classroom, actually." Professor Dumbledore replied, "it all happened rather suddenly but you were very badly injured." Molly could still feel a dull ache in her bones.

"Are you in trouble, my dear?" Professor Dippet enquired with a sense of urgency, "are you on the run from Gr-Grindelwald?" The name made him wince and wring his hands together.

"I don't know," was all she could say, her mind was still whirring. She hardly knew anything about time travel- she knew that Aunt Hermione had once owned a time turner, she knew that all the time turners had supposedly been destroyed in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries and she knew that one should never meddle with time but when one is spat into a different century with no idea of what one should do surely one can be expected to ask for help?

Dumbledore eyed her carefully, this dead man, this man whom her cousin Albus was named after, this man who had been headmaster at Hogwarts when her _parents_ were at school _,_ hewas now sat in the same room as her, as real as life, staringat _her_. She knew that Dumbledore had been a good wizard (and although his treatment of her Uncle made his reliability dubious) she still decided that he was the man she could trust. She didn't know if she could say the same for nervous Headmaster Dippet.

"I need to be honest with you, now," she whispered, "I've reached a bit of a conundrum, I'm afraid. You see, I haven't got a clue why I'm here, how I got here and I don't really know where the hell I stand on what I can and cannot tell you."

Dumbledore nodded, "I understand."

Armando Dippet looked between the two of them like he did _not_ understand one _bit_ , "care to explain, Albus?"

"Molly is not from our time, Armando," he stated, as if there was nothing wrong with that statement at all. "Have you travelled quite far? You don't have to tell me how many years."

She swallowed, "yes." _Seventy-three years,_ she thought _._ "I'm from a different century."

"Merlin's beard!" Armando muttered. "So this has nothing to do with Grindelwald?"

Molly managed a smile then, "I assure you, this has nothing to do with Grindelwald. There was an accident at the Ministry."

"Goodness…"

"And so you are here," Dumbledore seemed perfectly fine with all of this even though Molly was internally screaming. "Well, Molly, I suppose we should go about getting you settled here, I think that is the only solution for the time being. I assume you attend Hogwarts in the future?"

"Yes, I was due to start my seventh year in September."

"What house are you in?"

"Ravenclaw."

"Then, Professor Dippet, I think the best solution would be for Molly to take her seventh year and carry on with her education, don't you?"

"Yes…yes, Albus. Of course, that would have been my suggestion too…"

* * *

Molly honestly did not know how she was supposed to carry on as normal. It all seemed utterly bizarre to her as the Head of Ravenclaw House, Professor Merrythought, escorted her from the Hospital Wing for the first time since she had arrived. How on earth was she expected to just function like normal? How could she carry on studying for her NEWTs in a different decade like everything was fine when in reality she didn't have a home or a family or even an _identity._ Molly breathed slowly, trying to subside the queasy feeling in her stomach.

They walked into the Ravenclaw common room and a silence fell around them, only broken by the occasional whisper. Molly could hear her heartbeat in her ears.

" _We'll have to say that you're family were caught up in one of Grindelwald's battles and somehow you ended up here." Dumbledore had told her. "Don't be too specific, people will be satisfied with an answer like that during these dark times."_

Molly thought of this now, as Professor Merrythought introduced her to her fellow Ravenclaws. "This is Molly Mason- she will be studying here for her seventh year. I hope you will make her feel welcome. Millicent," she summoned over a tall girl with wild curls. "Molly, this is Millicent Bagnold, she's Head Girl here at Hogwarts and one of your new roommates. Millicent will be looking after you whilst you get settled in- I know you'll be in good hands with her."

Millicent smiled at Molly, "it's a pleasure to meet you." She held her hand out towards her.

"H-Hello," Molly stuttered; she was in shock- this was _Millicent Bagnold_ , future Minister for Magic and a particular idol of Molly's. "It's so wonderful to meet you."

She raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

As soon as Professor Merrythought left, the common room erupted.

"What the hell _happened?!_ " Millicent asked excitedly, "you just popped out of nowhere!"

"Yeah, and it's impossible to apparate inside the Hogwarts grounds." A small girl in round spectacles not too dissimilar to Harry's noted.

"What happened to you? You were bleeding _everywhere_."

"Is it something to do with Grindelwald?"

"Where are you from?"

"What school did you go to before?"

Molly started to panic. She really wanted to go home then. "I-I-"

"Guys!" Millicent addressed the large crowd that had formed around Molly, "give her some space, she's clearly been through a lot, let's have some consideration, for Merlin's sake."

Molly smiled slightly. "It's okay, I'd be just as curious as you are." They looked at her expectantly but she didn't know how to begin.

"Here, come and sit down," she was guided over to one of the plush blue velvet sofas.

Molly really did not know how to explain herself.

* * *

"So are you on the run? From Grindelwald?" The girl with the round spectacles asked (Molly now knew that she was a fellow seventh year called Barbara Inglebee).

Molly smiled weakly, "no, no, I don't think he cares about me very much."

"Well, he must have cared enough to send you all the way from Europe to Hogwarts." Millicent pointed out as she sat on the edge of her bed in her pyjamas attempting to brush her frizzy hair. "I tell you," she shook her head, "only a really powerful wizard would be able to do something like that."

"I don't think he really meant to do it. His magic must have got out of control or something, I don't really remember…"

"Of course, of course," Millicent smiled, "we should stop harassing you, shouldn't we really? I'm sure you don't want to have to relive what happened to you." Her smile was sadder now in reference to the part of her convoluted story that involved all of her family dying. She supposed in a way they were- they certainly didn't exist… Molly felt her throat constrict at the idea, her eyes grew hot.

"Barb," Millicent began, noticing that Molly was upset, "I think it's bed time, don't you?"

Molly pulled the blue covers up around her and turned onto her side as she felt the tears well in her eyes.

* * *

Molly stared up at the blue star-patterned canopy above her head for what felt like hours. She had woken up from a troubled nights sleep thinking that everything had been a terrible dream- but when she looked over to the other beds and saw that it wasn't her cousin and best friend, Victoire, sleeping in the bed opposite her but instead the future Minister for Magic, she fell back onto the mattress feeling rather empty. She really wanted to go home.

* * *

The first day was the hardest. Molly kept forgetting where she was, walking into classrooms expecting to see her teachers when instead she found teachers that had been dead for twenty years. Plus, people wouldn't stop _staring._

"Don't worry about it," Millicent whispered as they walked to Potions past a gaggle of gossiping Gryffindors. "It'll calm down eventually."

"Everyone must think I'm a freak."

"No, you just happen to be the most exciting thing that's happened around here for a while."

"Well, since Myrtle anyway," Barbara added.

"Can we please not talk about that?"

"M-Myrtle?" Molly enquired, knowing full well that they were referring to Moaning Myrtle who haunted the second-floor girls' bathroom. She stopped in the middle of the corridor, the realisation hitting her. _Oh, shit._

Millicent and Barbara exchanged a confused look, "yeah, Myrtle Warren," Molly felt like she was going to throw up, her hands were shaking, "she was a Ravenclaw that died in a freak accident last year."

"A freak accident? You know it wasn't that, Mill."

They didn't understand, Molly couldn't even believe she hadn't put it together sooner.

"Well kind of, but I can't be bothered to explain properly now. That's a story for another day. Molly, what's wrong?"

Lord Voldemort was at this very school.

"Are you ok? Do you not feel well?"

 _Fuck, no, why now?!_

"Oh, hello, Tom."

"Millicent, one of the Slytherin prefects needs to change his duty time for next week, apparently he thought it would be a brilliant idea to eat a random insect for a dare and now he's in the Hospital Wing."

Molly looked up in horror, _this_ was Tom Riddle, _this_ was Lord Voldemort; high cheekboned, neatly parted hair, rigid posture… she couldn't picture it then, that this was the boy that had ended hundreds of lives. This handsome boy was a mass murderer. The most feared person in wizarding history.

"Well, can't you sort it? I've got other things to deal with at the moment."

"Oh?" Tom looked at Molly then with a sort of amused look on his face- he must have been enjoying the sight of her quiet breakdown. She had to go before she started screaming and gave people more reason to gossip about her.

"I'm sorry, you'll have to excuse me," her voice was timid and she refused to meet anyone's eyes, "I really don't feel very well all of a sudden."

"Shall we come with you?"

"No, no, it's okay."

The three of them watched as she rushed off.

* * *

Molly was sitting in an alcove just around the corner from Dumbledore's office. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there for- she had been too busy trying to wrap her head around the idea of her being at the same school as the dark wizard who had caused her family so much pain; the same pain which often awoke her father in the middle of the night, screaming about her Uncle Fred, the same pain that had denied Albus, James and Lily grandparents and-

"Miss Mason."

Molly looked up with a start to see Dumbledore peering at her over his half-moon spectacles. "Oh, hello, professor."

"Might I ask why you aren't in lessons?"

"I, erm," she sighed, she couldn't be bothered lying anymore. "I can't cope with this; I really really can't. I always thought I was strong, you know?" She rested her head against the wall. "Do you know, I've always wanted to be Minister for Magic," she sighed, "but these past few days have proven to me that I'm really not up for the job- to be the Minister you have to be able to cope in high-pressure situations and make good decisions when you're under pressure…it seems I'm not very good at that."

"Miss Mason," Dumbledore crouched down in front of her- she noticed he was wearing bogey green socks. "I hardly think there are many ministers- not even Mister Spencer-Moon-" he was referring to the current Minister, "who would be able to cope with being shot into the past with nothing to their name."

Molly thought about Kingsley Shacklebolt, her current Minister, and decided with a huff that he probably would have done just fine.

"You have only been here three days; you're still going through a period of understandable adjustment- you still have time to make the best of a remarkable situation."

She looked at him properly then. She took in his piercing blue eyes, his auburn hair and purple robes and she smiled. She wouldn't say it, but she felt so grateful that out of all of this she was at least in a time with Albus Dumbledore- she had always wanted to meet the headmaster that her family had raved about. "But why am I here?" She wondered aloud. "Of all the times I could have been sent to I've been sent to a time when Lor-" Molly stopped herself and sighed again. "I honestly don't know how I'm going to make the best of this, I feel like I know everything about everyone here. Why couldn't I have been sent to a less important time in wizarding history when all I had to worry about was whether my dragon's milk had curdled or something…"

Dumbledore laughed, offering her a hand up. "Unfortunately, there haven't been many times in our history that have been so simple." She stood and brushed herself off. "Remember something for me though: try not to overthink everything you say too much, remember that everything that is happening to you now has always been- that in your time, all of this had already happened."

Molly frowned, "so I can't change him…" she muttered to herself.

Dumbledore bowed his head in a nod, though she doubted he knew what the hell she was mumbling about. "The timeline- and your conscience- will stop you from doing anything that drastically alters things."

Molly scowled; so what was the point of her being there?

* * *

A/N: OOOO I've teased the tiniest bit of Tom here! I promise the next chapter will be filled with oodles of Tom Riddle! As always, let me know what you think- I'd love to hear your theories x


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: *casually uploads this like it isn't two days late AGAIN* I'm going to say that the best solution to my untrustworthy claims is to follow this story so you get a notification once the next chapter is uploaded. Therefore, this week I'll make no promises as to when the next chapter will be uploaded (it is exam season let's not forget) Perhaps it will be a week...perhaps two once my exams are complete...hey! It's more exciting this way _RIGHT?!_ As ever, I do hope you enjoy- there's a way lot more Tom in this one (exciting!)- and please give this story a follow to avoid further disappointment from me xx

* * *

A Timely Solution

By ACircleHasNoEnd

* * *

Within a week, Molly could almost pretend to herself that she had settled just nicely into 1944. That was until fourth period potions.

"What can anybody tell me about making an antidote?" Enquired Professor Slughorn.

Tom Riddle's hand rose slowly into the air, as if he really had something better to do than do all the work for these numpties, "we should bare in mind Golpalott's Third Law which states that…"

Molly didn't know why she said it, she had never really been one to interrupt a lesson before, but she found herself saying, "just shove a bezoar down their throat." This had become somewhat of a mantra of the Weasley family's, almost an inside joke, which had begun with Uncle Harry lecturing them on the importance of the bezoar stone as he reminisced about saving Uncle Ron's life in Sixth year.

"What did you say, Miss Mason?"

She flushed, clearing her throat, "erm, Golpalott's Third Law is highly unreliable as it only really works for a handful of potions, whereas a bezoar works for almost all potions."

" _Very_ good, Miss Mason! That's excellent knowledge, 10 points to Ravenclaw for that."

She had interrupted Lord Voldemort.

And now he was staring at her with interest.

* * *

"You have some good knowledge about poisons."

She paused at the sound of Tom Riddle's voice by her shoulder. She looked up. He was staring down at her with that same amused look as he had given her when they had first met. "Oh," Molly cleared her throat. "Thank you." Thank you? Why was she saying _thank you_ to Lord Voldemort?

"You must have had a good teacher before." He had a kind smile. She couldn't look at it.

"My uncle taught me about bezoars."

"Oh? Is he a healer?"

She shuffled, clinging on tightly to the strap of her bag, "No, no, um- he is- _was_ _-"_ she winced at her use of the past tense, "he was a very wise man." She looked up at him then with a shy smile to see him frowning at her. She wasn't surprised- she was acting like a frightened puppy. _Get a hold of yourself, act more confident._ She stared Lord Voldemort in the face then, almost challenging him to ask her another question.

He raised an eyebrow, "were you homeschooled?"

"Yes."

"Are you on the run from Grindelwald?"

She twitched, her facade slipping slightly- she couldn't believe how direct he was. "My family just got caught up in his campaign on the Continent."

"Ah, so you lived in Europe?"

"I've moved around a lot," she lied, surprisingly effortlessly.

He was assessing her face then for what felt like an age when finally, he said, "interesting," and walked off, followed by a posse of Slytherins.

* * *

"Have you been to Albania?"

Molly jumped, spinning around to see Tom Riddle looking down at her with that same amused expression on his face. It was starting to get on her nerves.

She huffed, "you don't bother with small talk, do you?"

He almost laughed, "I do apologise. Hello, Molly, how are you today?"

Her face burnt as she realised that the table of Ravenclaws was staring nosily at their interaction. It didn't seem to bother Tom.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking."

"So have you been to Albania?"

She frowned, "no, I haven't. I hear it's lovely though."

He was _smirking_ at her now. _What's so funny?_

"I've been to Romania, though." This was true; she had been to visit her Uncle Charlie there. Although she wasn't sure why she offered this information to him now. She just wanted him to leave her alone. "Very similar landscape." She muttered when he continued to stare at her. "I've been to France too and, erm," _where else had she been?_ "oh, Moldova, too." She had been a few years ago to the Quidditch World Cup when Ginny had been reporting.

" _Interesting_ , Molly! I would love to travel more." Barbara piped up, "of course, it's not really a very good idea at the moment…"

"Why did you want to know about Albania, Tom?" Millicent asked with narrowed eyes.

Molly's face fell. _Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem._

"I'm just interested- what with all this Grindelwald business. I heard he was in Albania at the moment."

"Well, clearly not." Millicent said in a clipped tone, trying to purvey to him that it was not a good idea to talk about Grindelwald at the moment given Molly's presence.

"Yes, clearly not." Tom walked over to the Slytherin table leaving Molly staring down at her breakfast, her appetite suddenly completely gone.

* * *

Molly had to get out of 1944.

She didn't know how long she could keep this charade up, she had to get out before she made even more blatant lies and Tom trapped her into anymore corners.

She went to the library in the middle of the night, searching for any and all books that she could find on Time Travel. There was little available, much to Molly's annoyance.

The one section she did find in _A History of Magic_ recorded the incident of a witch who had travelled back to the 15th century for five days and upon her return had aged 400 years. Molly snapped the book shut. That was most definitely not the reassurance she was looking for.

She settled that the Restricted Section would be more useful. She ducked under the rope that sectioned this area of the library off and illuminated the shelves with wandlight. _Technically,_ Molly wasn't breaking any rules seeing as in her time she was an advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts student and so had been granted access to the Restricted Section. She didn't think she could really use that as an excuse if anyone caught her though.

Molly settled herself into a corner of the library, up against the shelves surrounded by dubious book upon dubious book supposedly associated with time. She read endless accounts about ageing, slowing down time, potentially freezing time and even the Philosopher's Stone but still found nothing on time travel. _That's because it's supposed to be impossible,_ she thought as she rested her head against a shelf. She wanted to cry then or perhaps she wanted to scream, she certainly wouldn't mind throwing a tantrum. She was _fucked_ and she honestly did not know what in Merlin's name to do. Her chest felt tight. She was completely alone, seventy years in the past, with no proper identity, studying for her NEWTs with Lord Voldemort as if it was the most normal thing in the world. She could be stuck here forever, that was honestly looking like the most realistic outcome at this moment in time, she was _completely alone_. She couldn't breath properly. What the fuck was she going to do?! What was she going to do after she finished seventh year? Get a job? Start a fresh? How on earth do you do that when-

"Molly,"

"Fucking hell!" She started, her heart pounding in her chest as Tom emerged from the darkness into her wandlight.

"Do you always swear like a Goblin?" That same bloody frustratingly amused look was on his face.

"What the hell are you doing keeping on jumping up at me like that for?" Her hands were shaking.

"Well what the _hell_ are _you_ doing in the library at two o'clock in the morning?" He countered, an almost annoyed look on his face. He did have a valid point.

She bit her lip, "studying."

"My my, I knew Ravenclaws were dedicated to their studies, but I didn't think they were _this_ dedicated," he gestured to the piles of books around her, trying to peer at the title of one at the top. She swished her wand and the books flew back to their places on the shelf before Tom could read anything else.

"I just feel like I have a lot of catching up to do, what with arriving late and everything." It was true, she had missed two months of lessons.

He raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "And all the books were in the restricted section, of course- do you even _have_ access to here?"

Her jaw clenched, she was tired of all his smart-arse questions and superior looks. She rose to her feet, "you're very nosy aren't you?"

He looked even more amused now, "excuse me?"

"Why do you need to know everything about me? Can't you just leave me alone?"

He grinned though it didn't reach his eyes. " _You're_ the one that's in the library after hours and breaking school rules. _I'm_ Head Boy and I'm on duty so _technically_ you are my business," his teeth were almost gritted now and Molly was regretting speaking up to him. "But, of course, I'll let you off, you are _new_ here." He accentuated the words and it made her twitch- did he know something? "Although, for someone that's only been her for a little over a week you do seem to be very familiar with the library."

She smiled sweetly, "it must just be the Ravenclaw in me."

He grunted and reached for her arm.

"Ow! What are you doing?! Let go!" He was dragging her out of the library and down the corridor. Molly panicked, she kept forgetting that this was Lord Voldemort and sassing him- why did she keep forgetting?! "Let go! Where are you taking me? Please, Tom." Her voice was pathetically desperate.

He stopped and looked at her, his look of anger morphing into confusion. "Why are you crying?"

She touched her eyes- she was indeed crying and she turned away from him to wipe her eyes. "I'm not crying."

"You're not from here are you?"

She continued wiping her eyes as if his question hadn't just made her heart stutter. "No, I told you, I've been living in Europe."

"That's such a terribly elaborate lie, I don't know why anyone believes you." He tugged her arm, forcing her to look at him. "You're from the future, aren't you?"

Molly wasn't quite sure what the look on her face portrayed at that very moment but in her head her emotions ranged from shock, fear, anger, until eventually false laughter came out of her mouth. "What? What on earth are you talking about?"

"Oh, please, don't insult my intelligence, Molly." He rolled his eyes, "You were reading books about time theory in the library." He gave her a mischievous smile, "don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Her chest felt tight again. _Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!_ Was she supposed to keep denying it? Was she supposed to admit it? What the hell was she supposed to do?! She could not take feeling like a lost innocent little girl any longer. "I can't fucking stand this anymore," she whispered. "I'm really fucking tired, I just want to go to bed. I just want to go _home_."

"When is home?" His eyes glinted with curiosity.

"A long time away."

"How long?"

She looked at him in disbelief, "oh, I'll just tell you everything that happens in the next fifty years, shall I? I know enough about time travel to know that that breaks about fifty-four different laws, Tom."

He looked wild with excitement. "So you're from fifty years-"

" _No_ , Tom."

"You're no _fun_."

"Yeah, well," she grumbled, "I don't want to end up like Eloise Mintumble."

He genuinely laughed then and Molly was surprised how unlike an evil mastermind laugh it sounded, it was actually rather glorious. She was about to sulk that he shouldn't laugh when there were voices from the other end of the corner and suddenly, Tom Marvolo Riddle was pushing her into a broom closet.

He pressed her into the wall as if that would stop her from making anymore noise. Although, to be fair, her face was squashed into his chest. She wriggled, trying to free herself.

"Stop moving for a second." He submerged the room in darkness with a _Nox_ and her other senses went into overdrive _;_ Molly noted how Lord Voldemort smelt like soap, old books and something oddly sweet, she noted the steady rhythm of his heart as he listened out for any noise and then, the hushed giggling from the other side of the door which seemed to be getting closer and closer.

"Tom, you're crushing me," she whispered, her voice slightly strained from lack of air.

He arched his back slightly, placing a hand against the wall beside her head so that she had space to breathe. She could almost feel him smirking at her. She felt his breath warm against her cheek. The giggling got closer. They waited.

All of a sudden, the broom closet was swamped with blue wand light and Molly struggled to see as her eyes adjusted.

"Oh- alright, Tom?!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Abraxas. _Get out of here._ "

Molly saw the boy with white blond hair's face crack into a knowing grin as his eyes fell on her, "it's seems you've found our favourite broom closet." The smug-looking girl he was with let out an awful giggle. "Come on, Dolores, let's go find somewhere else."

The door closed and they were once again in darkness. Tom was still too close to her. Yet Molly felt oddly comforted. _You stupid, naïve, little girl._

"Please tell me he's not going to spread any vicious rumours about this."

"Well," his lips brushed against her ear, "we could always add a little truth to the rumours…" Just as Molly thought she was going to vomit, he laughed, finally moving and lighting his wand. "Don't worry, if Abraxas knows what's best for him he won't say a word."

He looked at her flushed cheeks and she smiled slightly, "Good, I don't think I could cope with anymore people gossiping about me."

* * *

They walked down the corridor together in silence until they reached the door for the Ravenclaw common room. "You know," Tom began as he idly examined his nails, "if you wanted help with going home, I could always help you…"

She scowled. "Why would you do that?"

He shrugged in return. "You have a rather interesting dilemma. And I like a challenge." He began to walk away when Molly called out to him, "Tom…promise me you won't tell anyone?"

He sneered, "it can be our little secret."

Molly Weasley did not like the sound of having secrets with Lord Voldemort.


End file.
